Lifting the lid on Michaela's curriculum

 

New: Michaela head told inspectors the school did not teach music in year nine mainly because pupils “are not really interested in the subject”.https://t.co/pECQEien1L
Long read piece on the inspection notes on Michaela Community School,which I FOI’d following its recent report.

— Warwick Mansell (@warwickmansell) November 10, 2023

NAHT's 'broad and balanced' curriculum policy welcome and timely

There has been much concern about the narrowing of the school curriculum as a result of high stakes testing so the 'Broad and balanced curriculum statement' recently adopted by the  the National Association of Headteachers Executive is very welcome and timely.

There are similarities with the Green Party's curriculum policy and the commitment to high quality PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) is particularly welcome, as is the the declaration that the curriculum should not be 'distorted or restricted by external pressures of teaching and accountability.'

A broad and balanced curriculum
NAHT policy position for England and Northern Ireland

NAHT is working to ensure that the curriculum supports the learning, progress and success of all pupils and is not distorted or restricted by external pressures of testing and accountability.

NAHT supports the principle that a broad and balanced curriculum promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

In experiencing a broad and balanced curriculum all pupils should be given opportunities to:

•    Develop their skills in English, Maths and Science; 


•    Develop their knowledge and understanding of the world we live in, the 
environment, different religions and cultures, a foreign language, technology, 
computing, music and the creative arts; 


•    Participate in sport and physical activity; 


•    Engage in high quality PSHE; 


•    Develop positive character traits including resilience, communication, 
teamwork, problem solving and empathy; 


•    Develop positive attributes including high self-esteem, positive emotional and 
mental health, tolerance, managing risk, respect and ambition. 
Such a broad and balanced curriculum should: 


•    Encourage high aspirations and expectations for all; 


•    Enable pupils to become successful, lifelong, autonomous learners and 
responsible citizens; 


•    Be motivational and engage pupils in both the process and the content of 
learning; 


•    Promote an enquiring and creative approach; 


•    Include learning that takes place both inside and outside of the classroom 
and the school day; 


•    Enable pupils to achieve their potential; 


•    Be able to respond to individual needs and talents and to provide increasing 
opportunities for choice and responsibility; 


•    Be planned to reflect local needs in order to ensure it is relevant to the lives of 
the pupils; 


•    Build on the pupil’s own experiences, interests and strengths and help to 
develop their sense of identity as local, national and global citizens; 


•    Celebrate individuality and the broad range of pupil success in all areas. 


'Away with test driven dull - let's have a colourful primary curriculum' say parents

From Let Our Kids be Kids campaign

Please write to your MP in a brightly coloured envelope as part of our Primary Colours campaign.

Primary Education is creative, bright, varied and colourful... teachers inspire a love of learning through a joy filled curriculum.

High Stakes SATs testing threatens this with a dry, dulled down, black and white, test driven curriculum not wanted by children or by teachers.

MPs get hundreds of letters... let's make ours stand out and be sure they get the message that enough is enough... Let Our Kids Be Kids!

DOWNLOAD LETTER HERE: https://letthekidsbekids.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/letter-to-mps2-primary-colours.pdf

Let's pause and consider an alternative vision for education before the system imprisons us for another year

Children and teachers returned to school this week with both facing the narrow concept of education now embodied in the high stakes testing regime imposed by successive governments.

Before they and parents are captured by the system for another year I recommend viewing this Al Jazeera interview with Sir Ken Robinson. Wide ranging and at time very personal it gives much food for thought.

Another education system is possible.

High approval rate for Green Party education policy on Leaders Live debate

Natalie Bennett was the first party leader to appear on the Leaders Live YouTube/Social Media debates last night. Here is an extract beginning with Education Policy which achieved 88% of respondents agreeing with Green Party policy:

Natalie Bennett explains Green Party policy on education

Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green party, spoke yesterday at a meeting of the Anti Academies Alliance on Green Party policy. My apologies for the jerkiness of the video at the beginning.

We need to follow up today's Independent letter on pressure on pupils with a national campaign

This is the text of the letter signed by educationalists, authors, teachers, parents and grandparents published in the Independent today. I tried to sign when it was on line but was thwarted by technical problems - I fully support it as an ex-teacher and current governor at two Brent schools.

The letter is in line with Green Party Policy and the NUT's Education Manifesto and could form the basis of a national campaign.

As parents and educators we find ourselves increasingly concerned at the pressure that is being placed on our children and young people. We worry about the long term impact that this pressure may have on our children’s emotional health, particularly on the most vulnerable in our society. We are concerned to hear of children crying on their way to school, upset that they will not be able to keep up; of parents worried that their four year olds are ‘falling behind’ or of six year olds scared that they ‘might not get a good job’. And we wonder what has happened to that short period in our lives known as ‘childhood’.

The pressure that is put on schools to achieve results, particularly in the tests that now form such a regular feature of a child’s life, has inevitably led to increased pressure on the children themselves. This is not to blame teachers, or schools. Rather, it is to say that with test results becoming such a high stakes feature of our education system, schools are put in a very difficult position. When test results are the key measure of whether a child’s school is ‘good’ or not, we believe that every child’s entitlement to a broad and balanced education is put at risk. We believe all children have the right to become fully rounded individuals, and that in order to help them achieve this, we must protect their emotional well-being, now and for the future. We believe all children have the right to be treated as individuals, and to be allowed to develop at a pace that is right for them, not to meet a Government target.

We call for all those who are equally concerned to speak out against the direction in which education in England, and in other countries around the world, is moving. We call for governments around the world to take into account children’s emotional well-being when they consider the ‘effectiveness’ of schools and other educational settings.

Posted with Blogsy

Update on Ashley Gardens Primary PRU closure

I understand that the closure of the Primary Referral Unit (PRU) at Ashley Gardens, near Preston Road, Wembley is to go ahead at the end of the month and the current staff will lose their jobs.

The Council has had discussions with the parents of the children who have been excluded from mainstream school. Some will be bussed daily to the Anna Freud Free School in Islington.  Anna Freud has a therapeutic approach to education.The total cost, including transport, is £18,500 annually  per child which the Council claim is cheaper than other placements.  Others will be integrated back into mainstream school.

Although this settles things for the moment, there is still no long-term solution to the problem of primary age children excluded from school. More children are likely to be excluded in the future, particularly with the 'too much, too soon' curriclum changes that come into effect this academic year.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Year 1 boys in particular find the demands of a 'sit down, sit still, and learn' approach difficult and react against it - sometimes getting labelled as a behaviour problem or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) in the process.

Brent Council has a statutory responsibility for the education of excluded children.

Copland appoints 6th head in 5 years out of the Ark

Guest blog by 'Antediluvian' 

Having earlier had to extend the job application deadline by 2 weeks for reasons which can only be guessed at, Copland has now found a new head teacher for September when the school is scheduled to be taken over by Ark Schools, an academy chain.   The new head, currently a primary head at Wembley Ark, will work with the associate head designate, Delia Smith, currently head of Wembley Ark (and who she already works with), and is a product of the Future Leaders programme which was  co-founded by  Ark.  (Previous Future Leaders products at Copland  have been very impressive in their ability to spout the standard nostrums about passion, driving change, transformative visions, making a difference etc  etc, though not sufficiently impressive to conceal an absence  of both independent thought  and, it has to be said, emotional  intelligence. It has been remarked before that, if these are going to be the Leaders  then the Future doesn’t look too bright).

The announcement by Ark of the appointment of an Ark-trained Ark product as the new Ark head is likely to increase staff concern that this year’s  ‘staff reorganisations’ (4 so far and more to come),  the decimation of the 6^th form and  the introduction of the new, unattractive slimline Austerity Curriculum are part of a planned  near-complete purging of staff and students preparatory to a running  down of the school while the new building is erected.  In this 2 year interim period,  radical Arkification  can be expected in which any grizzled old Copland diehards will be got rid of to allow re-stocking  with young, compliant, conformist and obedient  Ark-product teachers in preparation for the phoenix-like ‘re-opening’ in 2016. After this, unless the school intake radically alters, expect a new Ark school name, an aspirational new Ark uniform, enhanced verbiage levels,  an embarrassing ‘vision statement’, rapid staff turnover ( termed  ‘teaching unit refreshment’) and  ultimately  a possible  slight improvement in exam results, ( yes I know there is no evidence that academies in general or Ark in particular have any beneficial effect on educational standards,  but doesn’t that contrast piping on the blazer lapels look classy! ). 

Things look grim indeed and with the recent biblical weather, the country plagued with floods and even a film called Noah currently playing in cinemas, it might seem that a certain school brand’s time has come and any resistance is futile. However, Copland teachers should take the longer view and find solace in the fact that, despite countless exhaustive searches over many years in and around the Mount Ararat area, there has never ever been found  any remaining  vestige, trace, remnant, scrap or relic of anything remotely resembling an  Ark.  

(‘And the redundancy notices went out two by two, two by two, two by two………..’)

When Schools Become Dead Zones of the Imagination - Henry Giroux

Copyright, Truthout.org. Reprinted with permission   LINK

At the forthcoming Green Party Conference I will be moving a motion to start a revision process of the Party's Education Policy in the light of the enormous changes being brought about by Michael Gove. There will also be a panel discussion on academies and free schools

This interview with Henry Giroux and the full article LINK take the argument about the neoliberal approach to education much further than most commentaries and analysis.

These are ideas that should inform our debate.

Copland staff fear hidden site sell-off agenda

I publish below a Guest Post from someone involved with current events at Copland Community School. The views expressed are those of the guest blogger but I publish it because I believe that the public should know what some of the staff are experiencing and thinking. I will be happy to publish any alternative perspectives.
 

An increasing number of Copland Community School staff suspect that it is Brent’s intention to let the school die. The evidence?

New Head Richard Marshall and new Deputy Head Nick John have spent their few weeks in office

·         cutting whole courses and subject areas

·         narrowing the curriculum

·         demanding that department heads nominate staff for redundancy

·         threatening any who refuse with redundancy themselves

·         reducing heads of department to tears

·         wasting Brent HR officers’ time calling them in to interview staff about legitimate and certificated sickness absence (including ones following operations and motor accidents)

·         cancelling Sports Day and another planned Activities Day at short notice

·         refusing any joint consultation with staff

·         refusing to furnish a definitive list of staff leaving in July citing ‘equal opportunities’(?)

·         adding to the 30 plus staff leaving for voluntary redundancy (sometimes under threat of future non-procedural and bogus capability action) by making working conditions for remaining staff so bad that they are desperate to leave as well

·         making the school curriculum offer to prospective Yr 7 parents, and to Year 11 students considering staying on for A levels, as unattractive as the appalling physical conditions students will work under

·         boasting about how ‘tough’ they are prepared to be in carrying out more of the above

Everyone knows how extensive and attractive the Copland site would be for developers. It certainly wasn’t lost on former Head (now awaiting trial on fraud charges) Sir Alan Davies.  Many at Copland now believe that the only explanation for the imposition of yet another clueless management regime on this long-suffering school community can be that Brent want to reduce the roll to  the point where they can declare the school unsustainable, close it down  and flog off the land to a supermarket chain and a residential developer.

Education: The battle of the Michaels about control, curriculum and creativity

Michael Gove's ideas on education and schooling have been taken on by two other Michaels this weekend. Michael Rosen's You Tube interview goes to the heart of the issues around competition and curriculum while Scottish Education Secretary, Michael Russel, demonstrates the dialogue with teachers that is entirely missing in England. LINK

SCOTLAND'S Education Secretary Michael Russell  has accused his Westminster counterpart of running a school system in England so centralised that it rivals the control of teachers during the Cultural Revolution in China.

Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell addressing the AGM of the EIS teaching union in Perth yesterday Photograph: Alan Richardson

Russell's comments, during a speech to the annual general meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union, follow an attack by Westminster Education Secretary Michael Gove on the Scottish school system.

Gove, who was schooled in Scotland, accused the new Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) reforms of lacking rigour and urged Russell to remove the "Nationalist blinkers", and learn from what he described as an international trend in education towards more testing.

Describing the attack as a "badge of honour", Russell said criticising the CfE was tantamount to attacking everybody in Scottish education who had been working so hard to deliver it over the past decade.
"His definition of the word 'rigour' is essentially systematised rote learning in which you politically decide the content of the curriculum and apply what one might describe as 19th-century teaching methods to it. That is not where we are going in Scotland and it doesn't work," he said.

"A lot of his approach is based on a misunderstanding and he doesn't even know how the Scottish system works. It has changed quite a lot since he was in Aberdeen."

Russell said the approach to CfE in Scotland was collaborative, which he contrasted with the top-down model in England where there has been continual conflict with teaching unions.

"Conflict doesn't work and we know that too clearly from looking south of the Border. Two weeks ago my counterpart condemned the English teaching unions as Marxist because they opposed his education reforms, but I fear even the most ideologically driven education system in the world – that is probably in the Cultural Revolution in China – involved less prescription."

The row with Gove came as Russell became the first education minister to address the EIS annual general meeting for 167 years.

This week, EIS delegates backed strike action before the end of the year to protest over their growing workload associated with the roll-out of CfE, and Russell was attacked in a number of speeches.
However, he was greeted with respectful applause when he stood up to deliver his landmark speech and only a small minority of members briefly heckled him on the issue of workload, with one shouting "rubbish" when he told them support materials were in schools.

Russell, who said later that he did not think strikes were helpful, went on to promise that "needless red tape" would be stripped from teachers' workload.

He also told the meeting in Perth that the Scottish Government would work closely with the EIS and other key players as part of a new group to identify the key issues and come up with ways to reduce "needless workload and bureaucracy".

"My ambition and the ambition of the Scottish Government is to allow teachers the flexibility to plan and deliver high-quality learning and teaching," he said.

"The Curriculum for Excellence is about freeing up teachers to deliver the best-quality education to help young people succeed in the global workplace and assisting in the development of skills. It is not about burdensome paperwork."

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan welcomed the commitment, saying: "Much of what he had to say was well received by teachers and lecturers in the hall and we welcome his comments on bureaucracy and pension negotiations.

"Overall, although delegates clearly did not agree with everything that the Cabinet Secretary had to say, it is positive that he was willing to speak to teachers and lecturers directly and also to listen to their concerns about education in Scotland."

Act Now to Keep Climate Change in the geography curriculum

The announcement that Michael Gove wants to remove teaching about climate change from the curriculum of under 14 year olds has been met with equal amounts of disbelief and anger from many quarters.  A national campaign got Mary Seacole and Ouladah Equianno retained in the history curriculum - we must now act on geography.

People and Planet has set up an on-line e-action page HERE and I reproduce their statement below:

In 2011, in response to a proposal to drop climate change from the national science curriculum, People & Planet's petition to the Department for Education was the largest email campaign received by the department that year. But new proposals now threaten to remove climate change from the geography curriculum.

At People & Planet, our experience working in schools and colleges has shown us that teaching about climate change is crucial to ensuring a new generation of young people who understand and are able to be leaders on climate change, taking action to protect the environment and human life.
Prof. Sir David King, the government’s former science adviser, says:

“It would be absurd if the issues around environmental pollution weren’t core to the curriculum. I think we would be abdicating our duty to future generations if we didn’t teach these things in the curriculum.”

Adapt the letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, and Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which is HERE and say what you think of these new guidelines removing climate change from the national geography curriculum.

Please adapt the suggested text and subject line below, and remember to:

• let them know if you are a student, teacher, parent - or just concerned
• tell them how important your own knowledge and understanding of climate change has been to you
• be polite!